
E 





HOLLINGER 

pH 8.5 

MILL RUN F3-1543 



SPEECH 



or 



HON. BENJ. PRINGLE, OF NEW YORL 



NEBRASKxV AND KANSAS BILL, 



DELITERED 



^ 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MAY 19, 1854. 




WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED AT THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE OFFICE. 
1854. 






I 



NEBRASKA AND KANSAS. 



The House being- in the Committee of the Whole 
on the state of the Union — 

Mr. PRINGLE said: 

Mr. Chairman: An exposure of the enormities 
of the bill now before us would destroy all chance 
of its enactment, were it not that Executive influ- 
ence and party drill have been brought into the 
contest. In this view it seems almost useless, 
after the many able speeches that have already 
been made, to continue the discussion. Never- 
theless, I conceive it to be my duty to omit no 
propef occasion to add my testimony against the 
measure, leaving the responsibility of its passage, 
if pass it must, with those who find it consistent 
with their sense of duty to support it. 

At the comjnencement of the present session of 
Congress there seemed to be no great question 
before the country calculated to excite undue agi- 
tation or disturbance. All was peace and quiet. 
There was a general disposition on the part of 
the members of this body to be useful in their ac- 
tion, to promote the welfare of the whole nation, 
and, under our beneficent institutions, to carry 
onward and upward the great work of human 
advancement; but this bill has been thrust upon 
us, to the exclusion of all needful and proper legis- 
lation. It may well be regarded as a " Pandt)ra'.s 
box" thrown open in our midst, destroying all 
our promised harmony and usefulness as legis- 
lators. I 

There are many objectionable features in the I 
bill now before the committee, some of which I j 
shall allude to, and some, for the want of time, I 
shall pass by in silence; but the chief, the grand ! 
objection, which, in my mind, overshadows all j 
others, is thefactthatit proposes a violation ofgood ' 
faith. It proposes to abrogate the restriction against | 
slavery north of 360 30' after all the territory south ; 
of that line has been converted into slave States, j 
This line, forced upon the North by southern repre- 1 
senlatives and northern "dough-faces," itisnow{ 
proposed to erase, and the power that is to annul 
is composed of the same materiel that established 
it. All the barriers against slavery are to be 
broken down; the dedication of the virgin soil of 



Nebraska and Kansas to liberty is to be canceled: 
The victims of avarice and cupidity, of tyranny 
and oppression are there to be herded together. 
The groans of men and the shrieks of women 
are to render horrible its flowery prairies and its 
charming woodlands. 

Suppose you repeal the Missouri compromi.'>e, 
what will become of the compromises of 1850? 
Have they any sacred n ess .' With what grace 
' can the South ask of the North to leave upon the 
statute-book laws heretofore enacted at her re- 
' quest? What safety will there be to slavery in , 
' the District of Columbia, or to the slave commerce 
'between the States, or to-the fugitive slave law? 
I The North has strength, when united, sufficient to 
resistthe aggressions of the slave power, and there 
will be union. It is safe to predict that, if this 
' odious measure is consummated, it will be the last 
' advantage that slavery will gain over freedom in 
this country. Never before, by any question, has 
the free spirit of the North been so aroused. There 
exists an almost universal feeling of abhorrence to 
: the measure, and the people are disposed to visit 
! with their bitter indignation all who are found 
; aiding and abetting the perpetration of the outrage. 
' It may be well to remark, that the opinion wh^?h 
the North entertains of slavery is derived , not from 
the fanatics and madmen of their section, but from 
the statesmen, sages, and philanthropists of the 
South; from men who were born, and reared, and 
educated where the institution exists; from such 
men as Washington, and Jefierson, and Henry, 
and Madison — whose memories we all venerate. 
It is unnecessary to quote their sentiments or lan- 
guage, for they are familiar as household words; 
and yet it may be pardonable to read an extract 
from the original draft of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, to show what, in the mind of Jefferson, 
was oneof the grounds of complaint against the 
King of Great Britain. These are his words: 

" He h.iH wiigcil n criicl war .igaiiist luinuin nature il«elf, 
violating Us most sncri'd rifhts of life and liberty in thf 
persons of a distant pi'ople wlio never oirtiidi-d liiiu, cap- 
tivating and carrying them into Klavery in another heniia- 
phere, or to incur miserahk- death in theii trasportaiion 
tbilbtfr. This piratical warfare — the opprobrium of infidel 



pnn-er«, is tlio iv.irfiire of the christian King of Great 
Britain— iletfrmiiicd to keep open a market where men 
Bhould he li.iii^litand sold. He ha^! prostituted his nega- 
tive, by su|>i>ressing every le'jislative attempt to prohibit 
or restrain tliis execrable cnniiiierce." 

The patriots and statestnen of the Revolution 
battled not for iNCEPiiNDENCE only; they were 
lovers of liberty. They had borne the exactions 
and inflictions of a foreign tyrant too long to be 
satisfied only with independence. They wanted 
liberty with it; and for the first years^f out; inde- 
pendence, and during the lives of theactorsin the 
Revolution, free principles were cherished to a 
considerable extent, both North and South. The 
evils of slavery v/ere seen and acknowledged. 
The difficulties in the way of its banishment were 
felt and lamented. Tlie high-priest of Democ- 
racy, Thomas Jefterson, was the friend of free- 
dom, and his writings are filled with expre.ssions 
of his hatred of the institution as it existed in his 
day, and there is no evidence that the condition 
of the slave is aineliorated, or that the master is 
any the less subject to its baleful influences. 

In the judgment of many, the system of slavery 
is more injurious to the whites than to the blacks. 
How men, professing republicanism, can be the 
friends of slavery, is strange, " passing strange.^' 
There seems to be no affinity between republi- 
canism and slavery. If slavery exists, there must 
be despotism on one side and degradation on the 
other. There can be no equality. 

An extract from "Jefferson's Notes on Vir- 
ginia" will show his opinion of the institution, ; 
which the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Smith] ii 
believes to be of fZifMie origin. Here it is: j[ 

"Tliere must doubtless lie an unhappy influence on the ij 
niannersof our people, produced by the existence of slavery j 
among us. The whole commerce between master and slave 
is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the It 
most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading \\ 
submission on the other. Our children see this, and learn I: 
to imit<)te it; for man is an imitative animal. This quality \i 
is the germ of all education in him. From his cradle to his ; 
grave he is learning to rio what he sees others do. If a 1' 
parent could find no motive, either in his philanthropy or h 
his self love, for restraining the internperence of passion j 
towards his slave, it shouUlalways be a sutiicient one that ( 
his child is present. Bui geiterallyitisnot sufficient. The!' 
parent storms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments I: 
of wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of smaller ;' 
slaves, gives a loose rein to his worst passions, and thus [j 
nursed, educated, and daily exercised in tyanimy, cannot r 
but be stamped by it with odious peculiarities. The man J 
must be a prodigy who can retain his manners and morals I 
undepraved by such ein uinstaces. And with what execra- ! 
tionsliould the statesman be loaded, who permittiiigonehalf i; 
of ilie citizens thus to trample on the rights of the other, trans- \ 
f)rms those into de-^pnts, and these into enemies, destroys j! 
the morals of the one part, and the amor f atria of theothfir. \\ 
For if a slave can have a country in this worlfl, it must n 
be any other in preference to that in which he is born to ; 
live and labor for another; in which he must lock up the jl 
faculties of bis nature, contribute as far as he depends on ij 
his individual endeavors to the evanishment of the human m 
race, or entail his own miserable condition on the end- 
less generations proceeding from him. With the morals of 
the people, their industry also is destroyed. For in a warm 
climate, no man will labor for himself who can make 
another l;ihnr for him. This is so true, that of the proprie- 
tors of slaves a very small proportion indeed are ever seen 
to labor. And can the liberties of a nation be thought se- 
cure when we have removed their only firm basis, a con- 
viction ill the minds of the people that these liberties are of 
the gift of God .' That they are not to be violated but with 
his wrath.' Indeed I tremble foriny country when I reflect 
that God is just ; that liis justice caimot sleep forever ; that 
considering iiHmbers, nature and natural means only, a rev- 
olution of the! wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation 
is among possible events; that it may become probable by 
supernatural interference. 'J'he Almighty has no attribute 
which can take Bides wilJi us in such a contest." 



That there has been no change for the- better in 
the institution of slavery, since we became an 
independent people, has not been pretended. In- 
deed, it is not in the nature of the thing that it 
should improve while its victims are on the in- 
crease. That its effects upon the community where 
it is located are the same now as formerly, in the 
opinion of some southern men, may be seen in the 
following extract frotn a speech of the Hon. C. J. 
Faulkner, of Virginia, now a meniber of this 
House: 

" Slavery, it is admitted, is an evil ; it is an institution 
that presses heavily against the best interests of the State. 
It banishes free white labor ; it exterminates the mechanic, 
the artisan, the manufacturer; it deprives them of occupa- 
tion ; it deprives them of bread ; it converts the energy of 
a community into indolence, its power into imbecility, its 
efficiency into weakness. Sir, being thus injurious, have 
we not a right to demand its extermination? Shall society 
suffer, that the slaveholder may continue to gather his crop 
of human flesh ? What is his mere pecuniary claim, com- 
pared with the great interests of the common weal .' Must 
the country languish, droop, die, that the slaveholiier may 
flourish.' Shall all interests be subservient to one; all 
rights subordinate to those of the slaveholder .' Has not the 
mechanic, have not the middle classes their rights — rights 
incompatible with the existence of slavery ?" 

In view of the whole matter, well might the 
patriot Jefferson exclaim, " I tremble for my 

COUNTRY when I REFLECT THAT GoD IS JUST." 

And well may slavery, as its hideous features are 
disclosed, in the language of the Vailed Prophet, 
exclaim: 

" Here, judge if hell, with all its power to damn, 
Can add one curse to the foul thing I am !" 

Mr. Chairrnan, it is not my purpose in this place 
to wage war against slavery, nor to apeak of it, 
except it be germane to the subject before us; but 
if the slave propagandists seek the aid of Con- 
gress to extend what I deem a curse over the free 
Territories of this Union, to prevent the laboring 
freemen from enjoying or living in them, I shall 
not hesitate while I have a place here to canvass 
the evils of the institution boldly and fearlessly. 
If gentlemen do not like to hear the subject talked 
about, let them keep it away from our Halls of 
j legislation. The free States have banished it from 
: their domain. They mean to be rid of it in the 
i Territories and throughout the Union , so far as the 
i Constitution will permit. They mean not to be 
: responsible for it in any manner, except when com- 
j pelled by the Constitution. They have, however, 
no intention of interfering with the domestic affairs 
of any of the States. If slavery be a blessing, 
j they who have it may enjoy it. If it be a curse, 
I they who have it jHusf bear it. Seek not, however, 
; to extend its demoralizing, blighting, baneful influ- 
! ences over territory now free. 

The object in view by the framers of the Con- 
stitution, if we may judge by the introduction 
or preamble thereto, was not the perpetuation 
of human slavery; but it is declared that "we, 
the people of the United States, in order to form 
a more perfect union, establish justice, insure 
domestic tranquillity, provide for the common de- 
^fense, promole the general icelfare, and secure the 
BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY to ourselves mitl ow posterity , 
do ordain and establish this Constitution of the 
United States of America." Now, hov/ shall we 
best " promote the general welfare.'" Not, surely. 
by discouraging honest labor, and "crushing out" 
all feelings of humanity. And how shall we best 
"secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and 
our posterity.'" Not, surely, by encouraging sla- 



very; not, surely, by nursing one portion of our 
population into tyrants and despots, anti degrading 
the other int(j stu(iid slaves. No! The Buges of 
that day were republican at heart; (hey saw the 
evils, the wickedness of slavery, and they antici- 
pated its final extinction. It is true that there are 
in the Constitution some coniiiromisea between 
freedom and slavery; those must be observed by 
tlie North in »ood faith, so Ion? as the Constitution 
exists; but, m my humlile judj^ment, the North, 
if true to the rights of humanity, if true to itself, 
will com[iromise freedom no further; no, not so 
much as thebreadih of a hair. The North should 
say to the South, " You arc entitled to your pound 
of flesh, for it is so nominated in the bond; take 
it, but take no more. There shall be no more 
yielding, no more submission to slavery aggres- 
sion." 

It is denied by some abstractionists that Con- 
gress has any power to legislate for the Territo- 
ries; let us see liov/ tliis is. The third section of 
tlie fourth article of the Constitution provides: 

" The Congrcs.s shall have powrr to dispose of, mid iimkc 
^11 needlul rulej nnd rc?ulaiioii.< ri'spcclijig, the territory 
or other properly belonging to the United States." 

Let us examine this provision, and endeavor to 
ascertain its true meaning. In the first place, the 
power is given to Congress to ^' dis}wse of" the 
territory or other property. The expression, "dis- 
pose of," is broad and comprehensive; none more 
broad or com[>rehensive could have been used. It ! 
authorizes, not only the .selling of it, and giving it 1 
away, but the g-e/^nig-riiZ o/itin any manner which 
to Congress may seem fit. It, in fact, gives to 
Congress unqualified and unlimited power as to 
the disjiosiiion of the territory. Congress, in this I 
respect, is entirely sovereign, responsible only to | 
tlie people for a proper exercise of that sov- ' 
ereignty. j 

Besides the power to "dispose of," Congress 
also has autRoriiy to " make all needful rules and 
regulations respecting the territory," &c. Now, 
what are "rules and regulations" but " laivs," i 
and what is " law" but a " rule or regulation.'" ' 
Can Congress make no law, or ride, or regulation, i 
but what relates to the sale of the territory, as is 
claimed by some of the southern gentlemen on ' 
this fl;)0r? Has Congress no higher duty than I 
to see that the vast territories owned ■by the United 
States shall bring to ourcolTers the greatest amount i 
of tnoney .' I have always supposed that the Con- I 
stitution of the United States was framed forsome'j 
nobler purpose — that the language of the Constitu- 
tion truly expressed the object and purpose in view, 
when it declared that it was adopted " in order 
tofonn a more perfect union, establish justice, insure 
domestic tranquillitti, provide fur the common defense, \ 
PROMOTE THE GENTEK.^L WELFARE, and secure the 
BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY to owselves and our poster- 
iiy;" and I have always supposed it to be the duty 
of Congress to carry out in good faith, and accord- 
ing to the best of their ability, in the territories of 
the United States, all the intentions, principles, 
and purposes avowed in our grand charter of Gov- 
ernment. The future happiness and welfare of 
these territories, in my judgment, demand that 
they be kept free; and the present happiness and : 
quiet of the States, in no less positive tones, de-i, 
mand that these Territories be kept free; and woe 
to llie power that shall trample in the dust the ,■ 



principles of freedom, and extend over the land of 
the free the withering blight of African slavery. 

It iH claimed by Home of the udvocntts of this 
bill that it establislie.s a great Democratic princi- 
ple — the jirincipleof iiopular sovereignty, of non- 
i?i/frrd»/i()»i. Now, if I rightly understand the 
provisions of thi.s liill,il eKtaliliHhoR no such thing, 
out the reverse. There is scarcely a provision 
that it is not an "intervention." It provides, 
among other things, for the appointment of Gov- 
ernors, judges, marshals, anil otiier ofHcers, hy 
the President, by and with the consent of the 
Senate. The people of the Territories have no 
voice in the matter; and without the consent of 
the peojile it extends over them not only the Con- 
stitution, but alt laws of the United States which 
are not locally inapplicable, excefit the eighth sec- 
tion of the act pre|)aratory to the admission of 
Missouri into the Union, commonly called the 
Missouri compromise, which, says the bill, 

" hping inconsj.utent with the principle ornonintervention 
hy Congrens with slavery in liie Stales and TerritorieB, as 
recognized hy ihe legislation ',ti[ IC5U, commonly called 
the compromise measures, is hereby declared inoperative 
and void ; it being the true intent and meaning of this act 
not to legislate slavery into any Territory or Stale, nor to 
exclude It Iherelroin, but to leave the people thereof per- 
fectly free to form and regulate their doniestic iiiHlitulions in 
their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the Uni- 
ted States : Provided, That nothing herein contained shall 
be construed to revive or |mt in force any law or regulation 
which may have existed prior to the act of 6lh March, 
IB20, either protecting, establishing, prohibiting, or abol- 
ishing slavery." 

Now, if there be not "intervention" here, will 
some gentleman be kind enough to inform me 
what is meant by " intervention ?" By this bill 
you appoint officers to govern the Territories; you 
say what laws shall be extended over them; you 
repeal a law that did extend over the Territories, 
all without the people having one word to say 
about it, and then you call it "non-intervention." 
But the bill declares it to be the " true intent and 
meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into 
any Territory or State, nor to exclude it there- 
from, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free 
to form and regulate their domestic institutions in 
their own way,"&c. Now, this is as deceptive 
and false as other pretensions in regard to this bill. 
There is no intention of giving to the people of 
these Territories the power of prohibiting slavery 
in these Territories, as I think I can conclusively 
show. It is but a transfer of the power of Con- 
gress over this question, not to the people of the 
Territories, but to the President of the United 
States, and the matter will be settled, I fancy, in 
this v/ay. A pro-sluvery President will nominate 
for Governors, either slaveholders or pro-slavery 
men from the Souih, or dough-faces from the 
North. A pro-slavery Senate will consent to their 
appointment. Such will he the course as to the 
appointment of other officers. No friend of free- 
dom will have a place there. By the terms of the 
bill, the Governors are to mark out the election 
districts, and apportion the members of the Coun- 
cil, and the members of the Legislative Assembly; 
and if, by accident, the Legislatures of the Terri- 
tories should be so audacious as to pass a law 
forbidding slavery, the Governor may, and doubt- 
less will, interpose his veto. With such Execu- 
tives and such Legislatures, what chance has free- 
dom.' And suppose that no law be passed by the 
Territorial Legislatures, either authorizing or pro- 



6 



hibitin^ slavery, what chance for freedom will 
there be to the negro, who shall be accused of be- ij 
ingaslave? The pro-slavery judges, most likely, ' 
will hold that slavery exists in all places where j 
not forbidden by positive enactment. This, of | 
course, is contrary to all the legal judgment of the : 
North, and contniry to opinions formerly held at , 
the South; yet this is the doctrine advocated by j 
the southern advocates of this bill; and as are 
the friends of this bill, and as are the President and 
Senate, so will be the judges of these Territories. 
In this condition of things, the only hope of es- ' 
tablishing freedom in the Territories at the first, j 
lies in the concerted movement, which 1 trust is | 
about being made at the North, to induce free; 
northern men to settle these Territories in such i 
multitudes as to overawe and overrule the officers :; 
that shall be sent there by the Executive. 

It is urged by sortie Representatives from the 
South, as a reason why the restriction against 
slavery in these Territories should be abrogated, 
that theofter to surrender it comes from the North. 
Sir, I pronounce any northern man who makes 
such a proposition a traitor to his constituency, a 
traitor to the North, and a traitor to liberty. He 
has no more right to sell freedom in these Terri- 
tories to slavery than his more notable and not 
less guilty prototype of the Revolution had to sell 
the liberty of his country at West Point. And 
let me assure southern gentlemen, that if they vote 
to repeal this compromise, they will not be justi- 
fiable nor excusable, even though northern traitors 
may receive a deeper ccndemnation. Was Pon- 
tius Pilate excusable when, after the betrayal by 
Judas, at the instance of the clamorous Jews, he 
surrendered our Saviour to crucifixion ? Did wash- 
ing cleanse his hands of blood ? Neither Judas 
nor the Jews hud the power to crucify without the 
aid of Pilate. Now, a northern traitor may betray 
freedom, and northern dough-faces may clamor 
for its sacrifice, yet without the aid of your votes, 
gentlemen of the South, the black deed cannot be 
accomplished; and if by your power liberty be 
destroyed, all the water of the " Father of Rivers" 
will not suffice to wash away your guilt. 

It would not be proper to impute, nor do I 
impute, bad motives to members of this or the 
other branch of the National Legislature; but I 
cannot fail to remark, that sudden and remarkable 
changes have occurred in the minds of many mem- 
bers of both Houses #s to the merits of the bill 
now under consideration, and the necessity that 
exists for passing it. What the arguments were 
that induced these changes can only be conjectured ; 
they have not been made manifest in debate. But 
to show the frailty and mutation of some northern 
men under trying circumstances, 1 beg leave to 
introduce a few expressions of opinion. 

Senator Doit.i.as, in a speech to the people of 
Illinois, delivered at Springfield, in 1849, speaking 
of the Missouri compromise, uses the following 
remarkable language: 

"Tli« MisFoiiri compromise had llien been in practical 
operation for about a quarter of a cenlnry, ami hart received 
the sanction and approbation of men of all parties in every 
e«ctiun of the Union. It had allayed all sectional jealonsi'es 
and irntati(uis growing out of thi-f vexed question, andliar- 
monizi'd and tranquilizcd the whole country, tt had ;;iveri 
to Henry Clay, as it.s prominent champion, the proud sob- 
riquet oi' ilie 'Great Pacificator,^ and by that title, and lor 
that service, his political friends had repeafdly appealed 
to the people to rally under his standard as a presidential 
candidate, ae liie man wlio bad exhibited the patriotism and 



tlie power to suppress an unholy and treasonable agitation, 
and preserve the Union. He was not aware that any man 
or party, from any section of Ihe Union, had ever urged as 
an objection to Mr. Clay that lie was the great champion 
of the Missouri compromise. On the contrary, the effort 
was made by the opponents of Mr. Clay, to prove that he 
was not entitled to the exclusive merit of that great patri- 
otic measure, and that the honor was equally due to others 
as well as to him, for securing its adoption; that it had its 
origin in the hearts of all patriotic men who desired to pre- 
serve and perpetuate the blessings of our glorious Union — 
an origin akin to thai of tlie Constitution of the United 
States, conceived in the same spirit of fraternal affection, 
and calculated to remove forever the only danger which 
seemed to threaten, at some distant day, to sever the social 
bond of union. All the evidences of public opinion at that 
day seemed to indicate that this compromise had become 
canonized in the hearts of the American people as-a sacred 
thing, which no ruthless hand would ever be reckless 
enough to disturb." 

And on another occasion the same gentleman 
said: 

" My preference for the Missouri compromise was predi- 
cated on the assumption that the whole people of the Uni- 
ted States would be more easily reconciled to that measure 
than to any other mode of adjustment ; and this assumption 
rested upon the fact that the Missouri compromise had been 
the means of an amicable settlement of a fearful contro- 
versy in 18i20, which had been acquiesced in cheerfully and 
cordially, for more than a quarter of a century, and which 
all parlies and all sections of the Union professed to cherish 
as a fair, just, and honorable adjustment." — Remarks in 
the United States Senate, December 23, 1851 — Congres- 
sional Globe, vol. 25, p. 67. 

And the same Senator, who is the putative father 
of this bill, in an address to his constituents after 
the passage of the compromise measures of 1850, 
said : 

" I am prepared to stand or fall by the American Union, 
clinging with the tenacity of life to all ils glorious memories 
of the past, and the precious hopes of the future; arid among 
those glorious hopes of the past I jironounce the compro- 
mise of 1820 to be one. ' ' t 

It would seem from his present course that his 
" glorious hopes" are becoming weakened, or that 
he expects sustenance from some other quarter. 

Another notable case of progress among nortlv 
ern politicians is exhibited by contrasting the 
action of the New Hampshire Senators on this 
bill with the action of the New Hampshire Legis- 
lature, as evidenced by the following resolutions, 
which received the vote of every "Democratic" 
member of both branches: 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, in 
General Court convened. That we regard the institution of 
slavery as a moral, social and political evi), and as such we 
deeply regret its e.\i^tence, and are willing to concur in aH 
reasonable and constitutional measures that may tend to 
its removal. 

Resolved, That in all territory which may hereafter be 
added to, or acquired by the United .Slates, where slavery 
does not exist at the time of such addition or acquirement, 
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except for the 
piinislimentol crime, whereof the party has been convicted, 
ought ever to exist, but the same should remain free; and 
we are opposed to the extension of slavery over any such 
territory; and that we also approve of ihe vote of our Sen- 
ators and Representatives in Congress in favor of the WiU 
mot proviso. 

Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be instructed, 
and our Representatives requested, by all expedient and 
constitutional means and measures, to sustain the princi- 
ples herein above set forlh. 

MOSES NORRIS, Junior, 
Speaker of the House o/ lie/iresentatives. 
IIAKRY HIB15ARD, 

President of the Senate, 

Approved June 3(1, 1817. 

JAREO VV. WILLIAMS, Governor. 

The late Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives, and the late Governor of that State, who cer- 
tified these resolutions, are now fecino?Y«/)ie Senators 
of the United States, and have lately voted to 



repeal the " Missouri compromise;" and the later 
President of the Senate of that Stale, who joined 
with them in such certificate, is now a member of 
this House, and claims, par excellence, to be the i 
friend anil mouth-piece of the Administration, and 
ready to vote us tiie Senators from New Hamp- 
shire have voted. It is unnecess»ry to character- 
ize a history like this with fitting epithet — the 
naked facts are sufficient. It seems, too, that the 
President is as fallilile, as chanj^eable as some 
other New Hampshire politicians. In tlie last 
presidentinl contest he claimed to .stand upon what 
was called the " Haltimore platform." He be- 
lieved in the "fmaliUj" of the compromise meas- 
ures of IS.'iO. There was to be no more slavery 
agitation in any quarter. Every elVort to disturb, 
by the repeal of these measures, the peace and quiet 
of the country, (which it was claimed these meas- 
ures had secured,) was to be put down; and no 
longer ago tlian the commencement of the present 
session of Congress, we find the President, in his; 
annual megsajre, using the following language: | 
•■' It is no part of my piirpnsc to ^ivi- proiiiiiichce to any ' j 
eubject which may properly be regardeil a.s set at rest by 
llie deliberate jiMifihient ol'ihepeoph-. Hut wliilelhc pres- i 
ent is briglit with promise, and the future full o|" demand 
and inducenien! lor tlie cxircise ol" active intelligence, the 
past can never be without uselul lessons of admonition and 
iiislruction. If its danf^ers serve not as beacons, they will 
evidently fail to fulfill the object of a wise design. When 
tlie grave shall have closed over all who are now cndcav- i 
oring to meet the obli^ialions of duty, the year 1P.'>0 will be , 
recurred to as a period (illcd with anxious appreliiMision. 1 
A successful war had just lerniinaled. I'eace brought wilh 
it a vast augmentation of territory. Disturbing questions 
arose, bearini; upon the domestic inslituiions of one portion 
of the Confederacy, and involving the constitutional rights 
of the Stale. liHt notwithstanding difi'erences of opinion ' 
and sentiment, which then existed in relation to details and 
specific provisions, the acquiescence of distinguished citi 
zens, whose devotion to the Union can never be doubted, 
lias given renewed vigor to our institutions, and restored a I 
sense of repose and security to the public mind throughout j 
the Confederacy. That this rei-osk is to sdffkr no j 

SHOCK DCRINOMY OFFICIAL TERM , IK I HAVE POWER TO 
AVERT IT, THOSE WHO PLACED .ME HERE MAY BE AS-, 
8URED." ' . . I 

Now, instead of remaining true to his princi- ; 
pies thus solemnly announced; instead of attempt- 
ing to *' avert," by his official power, the agitation 
of the troublesome question of slavery; instead of 
his performing his promise, Ihal the repose of the 
country should svffer no shock during his official 
Urm, if he had the pou-er to prevent it, we find iiim 
the very prince of agitators; we find the repeal of, 



the " Missouri compromiHc" is made " the meaa- 
ur«" of the Administrnlion, and friendsof the Ad- 
niiniatration are threatened with ostracism if they 
do not support it. Thank God, there are some 
noble spirits that do not quail liefore the threats 
and deminciatidns of the L.xecutive, but stand up 
in all their pride of manhood " for freedom and 
the right !" 

But the country was promised repose from agi- 
tation and excitement. Why, sir, compared with 
the agitation and e.xcitement that will be awakened 
and siuried into life by the adoption of this 
wicked project, all former agitation and excite- 
ment will wink into utter insignificance and be for- 
gotten. By what has been, you may judge what 
may be. Sir, I am no alarmist; I am no prophet; 
but I believe that if, notwith.standing the pe- 
titions, the remonstrances, and the indignant pro- 
tests that have been poured in upon us from State 
Legislatures, from popular assemblies, from men 
of all ranks and conditions in life; if, in defiance 
of the almost universal feeling of the free States, 
this CoiTgress shall consummate the iniquity that 
is now attempted, the North will be forced, how- 
ever much to be regretted, and however much it 
may be lamented — 1 say the North will be forced 
to unite to recover its lost rights; to roll back the 
tide of slavery extension; to restrict the institu- 
tion to its constitutional lituits; to fence it in, and 
confine it to the States where it exists. 

The only way — and theae is a way left to pre- 
vent this union, this organization at the North — 
lies ojien before southern Representatives on this 
floor. If they, in a patriotic spirit, with some- 
thing of the courage and chivalry which have so 
long been their boast, will unitedly come forward 
and trample under foot this project, so oflTensive 
to the North, the spirit of hostility would die 
away, the sun of harmony and good feeling would 
again shine upon us. But if the South unite to 
pass this bill in its present shape, whether suc- 
cess attend such union or not, the feeling of trust 
and confidence that heretofore has been reposed 
in the lionor and integrity of the South, will be 
ar.nihilated. All compromises, save only the 
compromises of the Constitution, must come to an 
end. They are not worth the parchment upon 
which they are written. Whether or not this is 
to be the condition of things, let the South decide. 
Would that she might decide wisely. 



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